Canada factory sales increase by 0.6 percent in June

Outerwear ready for shipping is seen packed in boxes on the manufacturing floor of Canada Goose's facility in Toronto January 17, 2012.Fred Thornhill

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The value of Canadian factory sales increased by 0.6 percent in June from May, pushed up by the chemical, petroleum and coal product industries, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

The increase - the fifth in six months - was greater than the 0.4 percent advance predicted by market operators.

The total value of sales in June was C$51.96 billion ($47.67 billion), the fourth highest on record, and the most since the C$53.22 billion seen in July 2008. In volume terms, sales rose by 0.2 percent.